A different Bento Box

When I buy a bento box from She Sells Sushi in Bristol I usually go for the beef donburi and a chicken hirata bun. On a recent visit to the Finale Reach Street food market I went with the bento box, but this time I went with the beef donburi and for a change the chicken katsu.

The chicken katsu was tasty. There was crispy chicken with katsu sauce on top of rice with pickles and crispy onions.

The chicken freshly cooked had a crisp coating. The katsu sauce was nice, not too spicy, but with a hint of fruitiness.

The beef donburi was slow cooked teriyaki beef rib on a bed of rice, topped with crispy onions and pickles.

This was delicious as usual, with tender beef and great flavour.

Overall I think there was too much rice for a light lunch,  but the rest of the box was delicious.

Another one, but this time different

One of my favourite dishes from the Bristol street food scene is the bento box from She Sells Sushi. Virtually all the time when getting lunch from the stall I get the bento box with a portion of beef donburi and a hirata bao bun. 

After having a delicious bento box from She Sells Sushi with the beef and hirata bun, a week later I was back at the Finzel Reach street food market and decided I once more would have a bento box. However, this time I went with the chicken katsu curry and the beef donburi.

The beef donburi was slow cooked teriyaki beef rib on a bed of rice, topped with crispy onions and pickles. This was delicious as usual.

I have had the katsu curry before, this was crunchy chicken strips on a bed of rice with katsu curry sauce. It was a nice dish.

Overall I think I had too much rice, as the bento box was essentially two rice dishes. I did enjoy the curry and the donburi.

Waiting for Wagamama

I have been to Edinburgh many times for work and have eaten out there when staying overnight. I had an excellent French meal back in November 2019. However though I have been there for work I have never been there for a personal visit. So when planning a short holiday for the summer we decide we would visit Edinburgh in August for a short city break.

On our first evening we had decided to visit Wagamama but the queue was horrendous so we then ended up at the Italian restaurant, Amarone. On our second evening, as it was late we ate in the hotel, what a mistake that was!

On our final night we decided we would go for Wagamama, though there was a queue it was shorter. We had to wait for a while, but once we were in, we were in. We were shown to a table and we looked over the menu.

I liked the idea of a rice dish so I went with the grilled duck donburi. This was tender, shredded duck in a spicy teriyaki sauce. mixed with carrots, mangetout, sweet potato and red onion on a bed of sticky white rice and topped with a crispy fried egg, cucumber and spring onions. served with a side of kimchee.

I have had this dish before (I think) and I really enjoyed it. The combination of sauce, duck, vegetables with rice and egg was delicious. The kimchee adds some nice spice and heat to the dish.

Also served to the table was a  chicken katsu curry. This is chicken coated in crispy panko breadcrumbs, covered in an aromatic curry sauce served with sticky rice and a side salad. 

I have to say I never like the look of this dish, but I was informed that it was delicious and the plate of food was polished off.

Another dish served to the table was a glass noodle salmon salad which was really enjoyed.

Overall we had a nice meal, the place was busy, but the service was attentive. It was noticeable though how the number of takeaway and delivery orders were impacting on the service to the customers who were actually sitting down in the restaurant. We know that there has been a huge growth in the demand for these services during the pandemic, but I am not so sure that restaurants have worked out how to manage the whole process, especially now that there are more people going out to eat in the actual restaurant.